Night fell upon the castle city of Garleton, soldiers both new and old, and mercenaries had convened briefly at dusk to get their orders. Mercenaries would be told to report at daybreak, while recruits were ushered into barracks within the castle itself. Those who were already stationed here simply went about their shifts and duties. Alnard himself addressed the recruits himself when they all gathered briefly, "It is a brave thing you have done to fight for the Empire, I am aware how hard it may be to be spurred into action for a ruler such as my father, but I promise our deeds from here on out will make us all proud to be Imperial citizens. From today forth, you shall all become Imperial soldiers, we will fight together, train together, die together, and most importantly, we shall seize glory and victory together, and return to our homes as heroes!", as he spoke he drew his blade and raised it to the heavens, and with him the recruits cheered, though not yet quite in unison. That will need work. After this, Hadrick had everyone dismissed back to their quarters, either tents in areas around the castle, or in the castle courtyard. This little town didn't have a barracks, so everyone including those stationed here had to make-do. | _________________________ Class: Spell LordStatus: Alive Inventory:
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Garleton Castle - Alnard's Quarters
Evening
Retiring to his quarters for the night, Alnard found himself anxious, a rising weight in his chest. Was this responsibility? No, not quite... Responsibility was something he wasn't adverse to, in fact in order to achieve any recognition among his brothers, especially while his two oldest were both alive rather than just one, it was something he had to rise to. No... This was not the weight of responsibility, but the weight of lives. Though not yet taking to the field, he could already feel the responsibility he had for each soldier addressed there. Although while he was there... There was a familiar pink haired face, but for the moment with his mind on organizing the troops, he could not remember.
He walked over to the desk and sat down, clicking his fingers to light the candle as he did before taking a quill to parchment. He meant to write two letters, one for his brother Kalvas on the frontlines regarding his thoughts, and the other to Henris in Dinas Afaraon, though a more light-hearted letter. No doubt Henris would not be interested in war matters, but barely as he took the quill to ink, he felt a cold presence behind him. He turned, and kneeled down behind him was... Fortunately a familiar face.
"Gerrian?", Kalvas' most trusted assassin and a member of his private division the Ravens. An expected name considering his title. Gerrian was a dark-faced man. Little is known of his origins, except that Kalvas had found him as a young boy and trained him. Based on his features he certainly was not from this land, with tan skin and dark hair, to be frank he fit incredibly well into a clandestine group. He wore charcoal gray robes over tight and flexible leather, with a hood available to him, and a face mask usually. He appeared to have no weapons on him, but that would be a grave mistake to make.
"It is rare to see yo-",
"Now is not the time for pleasantries. I am here to exit you of this place under orders of Lord Kalvas",
"You mean to have me... Evacuate? From what?"
"Now is not the time milord, as we speak, a large Lyonesse force heads this way from the north",
"What of my brother? Was he not the one-",
"He was defeated, but managed to escape. We must leave now, he bid me to ensure your survival, we are to run to Reynes and lay-", his words were cut off as a loud and explosive noise was heard from the town. Alnard leaped to his feet and checked outside. The night was now lit with fire, houses burned and in the distance, upon the horizon were banners bearing that of the Lyonesse army.
"We must go milord, take what you can and we shall leave at once",
"I can't just abandon these people Gerrian. I will be heading down and spearheading an evacuation operation", the man of shadow was... Visibly disgruntled, but with a nod, he accepted.
"In that case I will secure some exits out the back. The castle itself has a secret passage that will lead us to safety, it starts in the courtyard", he said. Alnard turned away to grab his sword and any supplies he can carry while fighting, before turning back,
"Very well, report to the courtyard when-...", he was gone. Regardless there was no time to waste.
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Garleton Castle - Entrance Hall
"Hadrick! Brigadier General Everett!", Alnard was sprinting down the hall into the entrance hall. It appears they had already convened a meeting to figure out how to deal with this mess. There were grave faces among all of the Reynes soldiers, or... Rather, everyone. It was a huge force, and no one was ready to mobilize, meaning battle was inevitable.
"Milord Alnard, it appears you have arrived in a timely manner. I have already decided that me and my knights shall lead the defense, and prevent Lyonesse forces from reaching the town for as long as possible. In that time you shall all evacuate. I will give you a few of my knights to help lead you all through a safe route to Reynes and cross the border. Once there and behind our defense lines, you can think of what to do next",
"General, what you speak of is your death",
"Of course. However this is my duty, that the king himself has bestowed upon me, and we knights of Reynes never back down from a challenge! I daresay the knights I send with you will be jealous. Those Lyonesse dogs for their number cannot outmatch a Reynes knight!", his gusto was encouraging, but those present, Alnard included, could see there was some fear within him. It was natural of course, death is something all people fear.
"In any case, I will go and see to my knights young prince", and with that, the general left through the large doors, and the only thing heard next was his booming voice, addressing his soldiers.
"Milord, what are your orders?", Alnard made a deep breath to get his nerves under control, before he made the order. He had to be quick, the longer they take, the less time there will be to save these people.
"Hadrick, take a retinue of soldiers and rouse the people to evacuate to the castle. I shall head to the mercenaries and ask they do the same",
"The castle milord?", he seemed inquisitive.
"Yes, Gerrian arrived earlier, he has informed me that there's an exit that starts from the castle courtyard. We can use that to get everyone to safety",
"I see, a sound plan... You heard the prince! Get to work you lot!"
Garleton Castle Town, Western Wall
"Well well well wot's all dis den?", a jagged man began to emerge from a broken part of the city wall. A strange part of the wall where from inside it was too high to climb and escape, but ground level was higher on the other side, allowing people in.
"Seems like an attack boss!",
"So it would seem, would be right unfortunate if someone were to you know..."
"Mug 'em?"
"Yeah but I was leaning more for kill",
"Boss that's awfully mean, but you know, we could probably nab a few things while everyone's all distracted-like",
"Hehehe! Well, whatever, if you kill someone today then we can just blame it on those stupid Lyonesse folk! Go wild boys!"
Objectives